FIFA moves to adopt Arabic as official language

The world football governing body, FIFA has proposed to make Arabic its fifth official language, after the four current languages of English, German, Spanish and French.

FIFA announced this in a statement on its official website on Saturday in marking “the UN’s World Arabic Language Day and the culmination of the inaugural FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021.”

The statement read, “proposal stems from long-term discussions with stakeholders in Qatar and those across the MENA region, and coincides with the conclusion of the FIFA Arab Cup, which successfully brought together 23 national teams in a celebration of football and unity across the Middle East and Arab world.”

FIFA further noted that the proposal is “In recognition of the importance of the Arabic language, which is spoken not only by the 450 million people that live in the more than 20 Arabic-speaking countries but also by millions of Arabs worldwide.”

This is coming as Qatar is in the front burner to host the World Cup in 2022

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